by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900)
Silence !
Language: French (Français)
Our translations: ENG
Le silence descend en nous, Tes yeux mi-voilés sont plus doux ; Laisse mon coeur sur tes genoux. Sous ta chevelure épandue De ta robe un peu descendue Sort une blanche épaule nue. La parole a des notes d'or ; Le silence est [plus doux encor]1, Quand les coeurs sont pleins jusqu'au bord. Il est des soirs d'amour subtil, Des soirs où l'âme, semble-t-il, Ne tient qu'à peine par un fil... Il est des heures d'agonie Où l'on rêve la mort bénie Au long d'une étreinte infinie. La lampe douce se consume ; L'âme des roses nous parfume. Le Temps bat sa petite enclume. Oh ! s'en aller sans nul retour, Oh ! s'en aller avant le jour, Les mains toutes pleines d'amour ! Oh ! s'en aller sans violence, S'évanouir sans qu'on y pense D'une suprême défaillance... Silence !... Silence !... Silence !...
C. Tournemire sets stanzas 1, 5, 7-9
1 Enescu: "plus encor"
Text Authorship:
- by Albert Victor Samain (1858 - 1900), "Silence !", written 1893, appears in Au jardin de l'Infante, in L'urne penchée, no. 5, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France, first published 1897 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Louis Aubert (1877 - 1968), "Silence", 1908, published 1909 [ medium voice and piano ], from Crépuscules d'automne, no. 3, Paris, Édition Durand [sung text not yet checked]
- by Marguerite Béclard d'Harcourt (1884 - 1964), "Silence", 1909, published 1909 [ medium voice and piano ], Éd. Demets (Max Eschig) [sung text not yet checked]
- by César Antonovich Cui (1835 - 1918), "Silence", published 1907 [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois mélodies, no. 1, Paris, Éditions L. Grus [sung text not yet checked]
- by Albert Diot (1867 - 1911), "Silence", published [1899] [ medium voice and piano ], Paris, Éd. A. Quinzard & Cie [sung text not yet checked]
- by George Enescu (1881 - 1955), "Silence !", 1905, published 1958 [ voice and piano ], Bucharest: Editura Muzicală a Uniunii Compozitorilor din R.P.R. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Lucien Ferrier-Jourdain (1897 - 1991), "Silence !", 1918, published 1921 [ high voice and piano or orchestra ], Lyon, Éditions Jean C. Vincent [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raoul Gradis (1861 - 1943), "Silence" [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Désiré Émile Inghelbrecht (1880 - 1965), "Silence !", 1908, published 1911, first performed 1911 [ high voice and piano ], from Au Jardin de L'Infante, no. 3, Éd. Albert Zunz Mathot [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adela Maddison (c1862 - 1929), "Silence", published <<1900 [ medium voice and piano ], from Deux mélodies, paroles de Albert Samain, no. 2, Paris, Éd. J. Hamelle [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maurice Touchard (1879 - 1956), "Silence !", 1919, published 1923 [ high voice and piano ], Éd. Maurice Senart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Tournemire (1870 - 1939), "Silence !", op. 46 (Trois Lieder) no. 1 (1912), stanzas 1,5,7-9 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Peter Low) , "Silence !", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-07-07
Line count: 25
Word count: 135